1. Field of the Invention
This invention relates to a clip fixing structure fixed to a barrel of a writing instrument or a cosmetic tool and the like or a cylinder such as a cap and the like.
2. Related Art
In the prior art, there has been provided a fixing structure constructed such that an outer surface of a barrel is provided with a fixing member having a fixing hole extending in a forward or rearward direction, a lower piece press fitted into said fixing hole is bent in a rearward direction and formed of a clip section, a slit is arranged from an extremity end of said lower piece to a rearward direction, an extremity end of each of the legs divided by said slit is provided with a wider flange than a width of said fixing hole, and further, a protrusion having a larger diameter than the width of said slit is protruded at a slight forward location of said fixing member, said lower piece is press fitted into said fixing hole, thereby the flanges of said legs are engaged with a front end surface of the fixing member and at the same time said slit is engaged with said protrusion (refer to the patent document 1)
In addition, there has been also provided a fixing structure in which the rear end of the clip piece is provided with a box-like engaging section having a U-shaped sectional surface, a protruded engaging section having said box-like engaging section press fitted is arranged at an outer surface of a cap, a recess extending from an opening part of the extremity end of said box-like engaging section in a longitudinal direction of the clip piece, a notch groove to which said recess is engaged is formed, a raised part cooperatively arranged at the notch groove is arranged at the rear end of the cap piece, the opening part of said box-like engaging section is press fitted from a front end of said protruded engaging part to cause the end surface of the opening part to be abutted against the raised part of the protruded engaging part, and further a recess part extending from the opening part is constructed to be engaged with said protrusion (refer to the patent document 2).
Further, there has been also provided a fixing structure in which a pair of through-pass holes are punched in an outer surface at 180° symmetrical locations of the barrel, a rear end of the clip is provided with a pair of legs forming an outer circumferential surface of the barrel and an inner circumferential surface of substantial same shape, the released ends of said legs are provided with tongue pieces bent inwardly, said tongue pieces are set to have a slight smaller width than an opening length of said through-pass holes, so that said legs are abutted against an outer surface of the barrel and pressed to cause the legs to be pushed and widened along an outer surface of the barrel and the tongue pieces are engaged with said through-pass holes (refer to the patent document 3).
[Patent Document 1]
The gazette of Japanese Utility Model Laid-Open No. Hei 6-55788 (left column, lines 2 to 12, page 2; lines 2 to 15, page 4; and FIGS. 1 to 3)
[Patent Document 2]
The gazette of Japanese Utility Model Laid-Open No. Hei 3-116991 (lines 5 to 19, page 1; line 8, page 5 to line 12, page 6; and FIGS. 1 to 6)
[Patent Document 3]
The gazette of Japanese Utility Model Laid-Open No. Hei 6-4990 (left column, lines 2 to 9, page 2; line 27, page 3 to line 6, page 4; and FIGS. 1 to 3)
However, in the case of the patent document 1, the extremity ends of the legs at a rear part of the clip section are positioned at a rear end opening of the fixing hole of said fixing member when the clip is fixed to the fixing member of the barrel and the legs are press fitted to the fixing holes while the clip is being moved in a forward direction of the barrel. At this time, a ball section formed at the rear surface of the extremity end of the clip section is in contact with the outer surface of the barrel and there occurs a possibility that a scratch is produced at the outer surface of the barrel.
In addition, under a state in which the clip is fixed to the fixing member of the barrel, said fixed member shows an exposed state, resulting in that this fixing structure shows a poor outer appearance and is not suitable for a high-class writing instrument and the like.
Also in the case of the patent document 2, the box-like engaging section at the rear end of the clip piece is press fitted to the protruded engaging section at the outer surface of the cap from its front end while the clip is being moved toward the barrel in the same manner as that of the aforesaid patent document 1. At this time, the ball section formed at the rear surface of the extremity end of the clip piece is kept at a contacted state against the outer surface of the cap and so this contacted state may cause an outer surface of the cap to be frictionally scratched.
Additionally, under a state in which the clip is fixed to the protruded engaging section of the cap, a clearance is produced between the bent part of the box-like engaging section engaged with the concave groove of the protruded engaging section and the outer surface of the cap. That is, a clearance is produced between an outer surface of the cap and a base part (an arcuate part) of the box-like engaging section, this clearance shows a poor outer appearance and this is not suitable for a high-class writing instrument and the like.
In the patent document 3, the clip could be fixed without moving itself toward the cylinder such as a barrel and the like and although a possibility of scratching at the outer surface of the barrel or the like caused by the contact of the ball section found in the aforesaid patent documents 1, 2 was overcome, a fixing of the clip against the barrel was difficult to require a certain time, resulting in that its productivity was poor.
That is, this prior art was set such that both tongue pieces were engaged with both through-pass holes by pushing said legs to the barrel under a state in which both inward directed tongue pieces were abutted against the upper part of the through-pass holes at the outer surface of the barrel, it took a time for positional alignment of the tongue pieces against the through-pass holes, a smooth fixing was difficult, resulting in that it provided a poor productivity and a substantial influence against a yield in productivity.
Additionally, in the case of the patent document 3, a band-like leg having a length wound up to a circumferential half-part (180° symmetrical location) of the barrel is required to be wider than a width of the clip section and an inward directed tongue piece engaged with the through-pass hole of the barrel is required at the edges of the legs, and correspondingly a material loss (useless) is produced. Due to this fact, this clip had a high unit price and a high production cost per one unit due to a loss of material.
This invention has been invented in reference to such circumstances found in the prior art and it is an object of this invention to provide an improved clip fixing structure having no possibility of producing a frictional scratch at the outer surface of the cylinder when it is fixed to the cylinder, producing a convenient fixing to improve its productivity and restrict a loss in material and capable of sufficiently accommodating for its fixing to a high-class writing instrument.